Michelle Lawrence waives preliminary hearing in Orman killings case

The woman authorities say set in motion to plot that led to the deaths of a pregnant woman and her 15-year-old son last month waived her preliminary hearing in a Cape Girardeau County courtroom today.

Michelle R. Lawrence, 39, is charged with conspiracy to commit first-degree murder. She is accused of initiating a plot to kill her estranged husband, John Lawrence, which resulted in the death of John Lawrence's fiancee, Jamie Orman, and Orman's 15-year-old son Derrick.

In a court appearance that lasted less than a minute, Associate Circuit Judge Gary A. Kamp ordered Michelle Lawrence to appear at 9 a.m. Dec. 7 for arraignment in front of Circuit Judge Benjamin Lewis.

In an unusual move, court security officers set up a weapons checkpoint outside Kamp's courtroom and Michelle Lawrence wore a bulletproof vest during the hearing. More than 20 people, including John Lawrence, members of Orman's family and members of Michelle Lawrence's family, watched the proceeding.

Terry Bettis, Jamie Orman's mother, said she and other members of her family visited the graves of Jamie Orman and her son before attending the court hearing. They planted two Christmas trees because Jamie Orman had insisted that she wanted a live tree this year, Bettis said.

She's bitter, she said, that Michelle Lawrence's family will be able to visit her during the holidays. "They will be able to spend the holidays with their families and we will be three people short," Bettis said, referring to the unborn child Jamie Orman was carrying at the time of her death.

Michelle Lawrence's boyfriend and co-defendant, Ryan T. Patterson, 28, also waived his preliminary hearing in the case. Patterson was in court Tuesday, one day ahead of his scheduled appearance, on request of public defender David Kenyon of St. Louis, Cape Girardeau County Prosecuting Attorney Morley Swingle said. Patterson faces a possible death sentence on three counts of first-degree murder. Patterson is also charged with three counts of armed criminal action and one count each of burglary and attempted arson.

According to sworn statements filed with the charges, police believe Patterson shot Orman, 30, and her son early in the morning of Oct. 27, in the basement of John Lawrence's home at 1224 N. Missouri Ave.

Investigators believe Michelle and Patterson plotted to kill John Lawrence, and that she purchased the ammunition used in the attack. John Lawrence was working a night shift at a local factory at the time of the killings.

John Lawrence and Michelle Lawrence have been embroiled in a bitter divorce case since June 2008. A hearing to set a trial date for the divorce was scheduled the morning that the Ormans were killed. In sworn statements filed with the charges against Patterson and Michelle Lawrence, investigators said the two were expecting insurance payouts of up to $250,000 from a life insurance policy on John Lawrence and an additional payment of up to $100,000 for damages from a fire Patterson was supposed to set in the home on North Missouri Avenue.

The attempted arson charge is based on evidence that Patterson brought a full can of gasoline to the home to fuel the fire. No fire was set.

Jamie Lynn Orman had Derrick and her other two sons with her at the Cape Girardeau home because the boys had been off from school in Perryville, Mo., the previous day. The two other boys in the home were not injured in the attack.

In a preliminary hearing, prosecutors are required to put enough evidence before a judge to show that there is probable cause to hold the accused for trial. Defendants are not required to present a defense. When a suspect waives the preliminary hearing, Swingle said, it is not an admission of guilt. "It merely means the defendant is not requiring the prosecution to call witnesses to prove probable cause," he said in a news release.

A third suspect, Samuel R. "Ray Ray" Hughes, 25, is scheduled for a preliminary hearing Dec. 22.

Investigators believe Patterson asked Hughes to accompany him, promising a night of stealing computers, televisions and cash from John Lawrence's home. According to sworn statements, Hughes entered the garage with Patterson, but when they could not gain entry to the home he returned to the car they were using and acted as a lookout. Hughes is accused of three counts of second-degree murder along with a single count each of burglary and attempted arson.

rkeller@semissourian.com

388-3642

Pertinent addresses:

1224 N. Missouri Ave., Cape Girardeau, Mo.

100 Court St., Jackson, Mo.